We're sorry, we know a price rise is never welcome, especially alongside other cost of living increases. However, from 1 April 2025, the amount you pay for your drinking water will go up.
The price we charge you is set by our regulator, Ofwat, who also decides how much we can invest in our network. In the last 5 years, we have invested more than Ofwat has allowed us to, whilst keeping your prices the same. To continue to provide your drinking water and make improvements to our public service, we now need to increase prices.
The average water bill now costs 81p per day, less than the cost of a second-class stamp. This is an increase of 20 per cent for an average bill.
What this means for you
If you pay monthly
You will see your monthly payment go up from March, this is because we split the total cost for the next bill period into equal payments. We do this so you pay the same amount each month, helping you to budget better.
If you’re on a meter and you pay your bill in full when it’s due
When you receive your next bill after 1 April 2025, you will see the price rise reflected in this bill.
If you’re not on a meter and you pay your bill in full or in instalments
The bill you have received most recently is for the period April 2025 to March 2026. You will see an increase in the price compared to your previous bill, to reflect the increases we are making.
Want to switch to a monthly payment plan?
Your opinion matters
We're always keen to hear what you have to say about us. We know a price rise is never welcome, so if you'd like to let us know your thoughts on our investment plans, please use our online contact form or complete and return the feedback form included within your most recent bill.
Struggling to pay?
Please don't worry.
We have a range of schemes to help. The best thing to do is to get in touch with us.
What the increase will fund
Across our entire operational area:
- Installing upgraded meters for you and your neighbours by 2035.
- Reducing the risk of drinking water outages by more of our sites having an alternative power source.
- Working with partners to improve the quality of raw water at the source, in rivers and in ground water.
- Reducing our carbon footprint by replacing petrol or diesel vehicles with electric.
- Continuing to tackle water poverty, increasing the support we give to our vulnerable customers.
Recent improvements in Kent
- Keeping you in supply while we take a treated water storage tank out of service. We're doing this by laying a new pipeline to connect two existing pipes. Find out more here.
- Preventing flooding by managing the river flow at our site in Pembury.
- Upgrading our water treatment works in Pembury with new pumps.
- Increasing the amount of water we can take from the ground.
- Increasing the amount of fresh drinking water we can treat, which will ease pressure on wider areas of Kent. We’re doing this by building a state-of-the-art water treatment works near Aylesford, which will be able to treat an extra 20 million litres a day for the Ashford and Maidstone areas. Find out more here.
- ·Accelerating plans for a new reservoir near Canterbury. Once built, Broad Oak reservoir will help meet the future needs for drinking water in east Kent. It will also create new habitats, and provide countless social benefits for your local community. Find out more here.
Recent improvements in Sussex
- Protecting the quality of your drinking water by improving the environment. We’re doing this at Lullington Heath National Nature Reserve by boosting biodiversity, which means having a rich variety of life: from plants and animals to organisms and ecosystems. They will help protect the land above areas where we take groundwater from. This project is going to expand and link land at Eastbourne Downland, creating a Super National Nature Reserve.
- Using innovative technology and solar-powered remote meters to give farmers in the Litlington area live data on their drinking water use, helping them to identify leaks and use water on their farms wisely.
- Improving your drinking water quality by replacing a section of pipe on Turners Mill Road in Haywards Heath. Find out more here.
- Improving the environment by increasing biodiversity, which means having a rich variety of life: from plants and animals to organisms and ecosystems. We’ve done this by partnering with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, to supply and install two Sand Martin nesting banks and two Tern nesting rafts. These are custom made ‘floating hotels’ for birds to nest above the water, safe from predators, currents in the water and flooding. Find out more by watching our video here.
Recent improvements in Berkshire, Hampshire and Surrey
- Futureproofing as the communities grow between Hale and Aldershot. We’re doing this by laying new pipes that will increase the capacity of drinking water we can supply to homes and businesses. Find out more here.
- Protecting the Maidenhead Ditch stream to keep it healthy and sustainable for the future. We're doing this by making the river flow better, preventing flooding and creating new habitats. Find out more here.
FAQs
We’re sorry, we know a price rise is never welcome, especially alongside other cost of living increases. However, to make sure we continue to invest in making your drinking water supply more reliable by reducing leaks and improving our network, we need to increase investment and therefore prices.
The average water bill now costs 81p per day, less than the cost of a second-class stamp. This is an increase of 20 per cent.
When compared to the price of bottled water, your water still remains extremely good value for money.
No dividends have been paid to our shareholders since 2019 and there are no plans to pay any in the next financial year.
The average water bill is 81p per day, but some customers use more water, and therefore pay more, and some customers use less than average and as a result their bill is lower.
If you are on a water meter
You are charged for the amount of water you use. Your latest bill will show how much water is being used at your home. Look for ‘charge type’ within your bill to see the amounts.
If you are not on a water meter
Prices may vary depending on the size of your property or how you are billed. We use either your property’s rateable value or an assessed charge.
An assessed charge is used when we’ve not been able to install a water meter at the property. We will assess your charges for water, usually based on the number of bedrooms in your property.
Look for ‘charge type’ within your bill to see if your property is ‘rateable value’ or for the number of bedrooms on an assessed charge.
If you’re struggling to pay your bill, we do have a range of schemes to help. The best thing to do is to get in touch and we'll do all we can for you. We can look if there are alternative tariffs that may be available to suit your circumstances and we could also look at some water saving tips which could help to reduce your water bill.
From April 2025, the Social Tariff will apply a tiered discount based on the household income. For customers earning between £17,000 and £21,000 a 30 per cent discount will be applied, rising to 50 per cent for households with an income of less than £17,000.
If you currently receive a discount under our Social Tariff, please note that this will remain unchanged and you will continue to receive the same level of discount as you do now. If you think you would receive a greater benefit from one of the new tiers under our Social Tariff please let us know.
Please call our dedicated Customer Service team on 0333 000 0001(opens in a new tab). All our advisors are specially trained to offer confidential advice and support. Lines are open Monday to Friday from 8am to 7pm and Saturday from 8am to 1pm.
There is a lot of work that goes into making your water safe to drink, meeting the high standards set by the Drinking Water Inspectorate, and ensuring that we have enough water available to meet our customers’ demands.
The majority of the water we supply comes from underground, which is rainwater that has filtered deep down into the aquifers (a type of rock that allows water through it) below ground. We also have reservoirs above ground, that collect rain water and we use in the summer months for the millions of additional litres we need to supply.
Depending on where the water comes from (above or below ground) and the location of the groundwater (there are lots of different types of rock/aquifers), this will determine the amount of treatment the water needs to bring it up to standard. This can sometimes be quite complex and more costly.
All of the investment that we need to undertake to keep providing an excellent quality of water to all of our customers is detailed in our business plan. You can read it here: southeastwater.co.uk/businessplan
Yes they are. These water companies announced a price rise on the same day as us. Like us, all of the water companies have gone through a price setting process and assessed what their prices need to be to ensure they continue to remove waste water effectively for their customers. Whilst we are not involved in Thames Water/Southern Water/Severn Trent/Icosa Water’s price setting process, it will be very similar to ours, they would go through a strategic price setting process which is approved by Ofwat who ensure their bills remain good value for money. You can find out more on their websites:
www.southernwater.co.uk(opens in a new tab)
www.thameswater.co.uk(opens in a new tab)
Generally it costs more to treat and remove the dirty water than it does to supply fresh water, so waste water charges tend to be higher.
We bill our customers for waste water services on behalf of Southern Water, Thames Water, Severn Trent Connect and Icosa Water. We do this to make things simpler for our shared customers.
There are many other factors involved around how water companies set their prices (no two companies charge the same), and this can be down to the nature of the areas that the companies supply, rural areas versus city areas for example, or where they take water from. Here at South East Water, the majority of our water comes from underground water sources, contained in rare chalk aquifers (a type of rock that allows water through it), and we have lots of rural areas meaning more pipework is required to reach these areas compared to city areas where properties are closer together.